MULTIMEDIA-ENGLISH

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  Put in Order
Frequency adverbs: position
Focus Grammar
Description Practise how to put adverbs of frequency in the right place inside the sentence.
Instructions Order these sentences so the adverb of frequency comes in the right position.
 
Items
you / at home? / have lunch / Do / usually
 
My car / several times a year / breaks down
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the end)
dress / I / always / Can / in green?
 
asking me questions / is / She / always
 
to the dentist / I / go / once a year / usually
 
My parents / almost never / go on holiday
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the beginning or the end)
My parents / to help me / very often / come
 
oranges / I / hardly ever / eat
 
shopping / have to go / day in, day out / I
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the end)
? / win / always / Kevin / Does
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the beginning or the end)
very often / in blue / She / dresses
 
Begin the sentence with YESTERDAY
she / twice / me / phoned / Yesterday,
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the beginning or the end)
John / is / late / often
 
usually / I / go / to the hairdresser's / once a month
 
can / find / your car keys / You / never
 
soup / We / have / every other day
 
very tired / usually / in the mornings. / Something is the matter with me. I / am
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the end)
feel tired? / often / you / Do
 
to the disco? / often / you / How / do / go
 
some petrol / I travel a lot. I / every other day. / need
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the beginning or the end)
for dinner / Mike / pizza / eats / often
 
? / go / Do / to the gym / every day / you
 
Tom / help you / if you need it / will / rarely
 
five times / it / saw / I
 
never / They / listen / can
 
I / go / to the gym / three times a week
 
I / at 8 a.m. / always / get up
 
Place it in mid-position (not at the beginning or the end)
need / They / usually / some help with the homework
 
Begin the sentence with SHE
rarely / listens / when you talk to her / She
 
know / I / what to say / never
 
Total number of items: 30
This is an activity from Multimedia-English www.multimedia-english.com
 

FREQUENCY ADVERBS

These adverbs answer the question: How often?
Here is a list ordered from more to less frequency (percentages are approximative)

ALWAYS (100%)
FREQUENTLY (90%)
USUALLY (85%)      = generally, normally
OFTEN (75%)
SOMETIMES (50%)      = now and then
OCCASIONALLY (35%)
SELDOM (25%)
RARELY (10%)
HARDLY EVER (5%)
NEVER (0%)

Word order:

One-word adverbs

Before normal verbs (the rest)
- I OFTEN go to the cinema
- He RARELY watches television
After special verbs (to be, have, do, can, will, etc.)
- I am ALWAYS here
- you can NEVER speak fast o
exceptions:
- I HARDLY EVER watch football on TV
- Tim ALMOST NEVER eats pudding
Notice: Some of these can use VERY (with the same position).
- I VERY OFTEN eat potatoes
- We VERY RARELY go to the beach

Two words or more

At the end of the sentence
- I go to the cinema TWICE A MONTH
- He works in the mornings EVERY OTHER DAY (= every two days)
- He watches football DAY IN, DAY OUT (= every day, every single day)
- We go hiking SEVERAL TIMES A YEAR (= a few times every year)

How many times?
Once = x1
Twice = x2
Three times = x3
Four times, etc. = x4

These frequency phrases usually go at the end:
- You have to ring the bell twice
- I go to the cinema once a month
- Tim goes to school three times a week